Container ships have been built in increasingly larger sizes to take advantage of economies of scale and reduce expenses such as fuel costs.  However, they are also subject to size limitations.  Primarily, these are the availability of a sufficient number of ports and terminals equipped to handle such ships and furthermore, some of the world’s main waterways such as the Suez Canal and Singapore Strait restrict the maximum dimensions of a ship that can pass through them.
 
The CMA CGM Pelleas is the longest container ship to ever arrive in Australia.  The record-breaking vessel arrived at Port Botany on Thursday 14 September and at Port of Melbourne on 20 September and stretches about 350m long and almost 43m wide, with a capacity to hold 9,661 TEU’s.  Whilst this sounds enormous, the largest vessel in operation is the MSC Irina built in 2023 which stretches about 400m long and almost 62m wide, with a capacity to hold 24,346 TEU’s.   
 
We know how integral international shipping is to the global economy, and especially to Australia since we are an island nation where more containerised goods are imported than exported.
 
To handle larger vessels, shipping channels have been deepened and ongoing investment in terminal infrastructure is vital to ensure our ports maintain efficiency and have adequate capacity to handle the growth in the size of ships forecasted to visit Australian ports over the next 20 years.

Sam Curro
Executive Business Manager – Oceania